


made with love

by ColorMeParanoid



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Birthday Party, Evan "Buck" Buckley Needs A Hug, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, and the rest of the 911 family, failed baking attempts, supportive team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27576280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorMeParanoid/pseuds/ColorMeParanoid
Summary: Eddie isn’t sure how exactly this happened.One moment they were discussing throwing a surprise party for Buck's birthday and the next, Eddie somehow found himself in charge of providing the cake for said celebration.What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Firehouse 118 Crew, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 284





	made with love

**Author's Note:**

> To anyone currently struggling with Nanowrimo, you can do this! We're already halfway there!

Eddie isn’t sure how exactly this happened.

One moment they were discussing throwing a surprise party for Buck's birthday - and the general welcome back celebration after all that he's been through over the last year - and the next, Eddie somehow found himself in charge of providing the cake for said celebration.

While he is still technically the newest member of the 118, even he knows that the staple of every event was a ridiculously elaborate cake that fit the theme. He hadn't been present for Chim's welcome back cake after his car accident, but he's seen all of the pictures. Buck always talks about it with such enthusiasm and Eddie’s prepared to go all out to give him the same experience.

He wracked his brain thinking about the potential design for days before he finally made the order in the local bakery and he couldn't wait to see the results. Buck was going to lose his mind when he saw it, Eddie’s sure of it.

With only one day left to go until the party tomorrow, everyone is on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Besides being in charge of the cake, Eddie’s also tasked with making sure to keep Buck distracted and occupied so the rest could do their thing and bring it all together without him noticing.

Though Eddie isn’t worried about it at all. So far, Buck is completely oblivious. It helps that they decided to throw him the party a week before his actual birthday to make sure it was an actual surprise and not something he saw coming from a mile away. When Bobby ups his baking game and starts spending most of his days leading up to it in the kitchen, Buck doesn't even blink an eye. When Chim starts to act really strange and odd around him, like he does whenever he’s hiding something, Buck just assumes he's still nervous about becoming a dad.

It says a lot about their friendship that nothing really changes when Eddie makes an effort to always be besides Buck to run interference if anyone in the station manages to let something slip. They spent so much time together already, be it during work or outside of it that it didn’t even register as strange that Eddie sits by his side at every meal and at every call and any time in between.

All was going well, so Eddie really shouldn't have been surprised when it all went to hell in a truly spectacular way.

A call comes in late that afternoon and Eddie does a double take at the address that Bobby calls out when they get into the truck.

"Oh man," Buck says from beside him, a forlorn look on his face. "That's my favorite bakery."

"I know," Eddie says through gritted teeth. It's why he chose it.

All of Eddie's hopes of this being a false alarm or a minor fire evaporate when they arrive at the scene. The entire bakery has caught fire and turned into a blazing inferno in record time. Though the initial reports say that everyone has gotten out safely, Eddie and Buck do a full sweep of the premises once it's safe to go in just to make sure. Thankfully, there’s no human casualties but Eddie is too busy mourning the melted pile of red fondant on one of the counters to truly appreciate that win.

Fuck. What is he supposed to do now?

His previously good mood is significantly ruined by the event, and he feels even more guilty for being more upset about the cake than the fact that those lovely people have now lost their only source of income. It’s going to take them a long time before they recovered from the damages.

His sudden change of mood doesn't go unnoticed by the team either, and he shares one look with Hen that tells her all she needs to know.

"Is everything okay?" Buck asks him as they load up their gear and get ready to head back to the station.

Eddie gives him a weak attempt at a smile and mutters a not very reassuring "fine" and Buck doesn't push. He just sticks a little closer to him on the ride back, ready to listen if Eddie wants to talk. The sentiment is very much appreciated and it’s exactly why Eddie so desperately wanted to make this perfect for him.

Because Buck didn't deserve anything less.

While Buck goes to shower off the soot and the sweat from their call, the rest of the team lingers in the locker room to discuss their next steps.

"What are we going to do now?" Chim asks. "The cake was supposed to be the centerpiece to bring it all together. Without it, all we've got are some sad looking finger foods. No offense, Cap."

"None taken, Chim," Bobby says. He's come up with an array of delicious but easy to eat appetizers that could last if they got a call, but Chim’s right. The cake was the main event. Bobby is silent for a moment as he thinks about what to do now and they all wait for him to come up with a plan. If anyone can stop this from turning into a disaster, it’s Bobby.

"Hen, do you think you can get your hands on more decorations? Without our main event, we really need the rest of the station to stand out," Bobby says. She nods.

"I have an attic full of them from all of Denny's birthday parties. I'm sure Karen and I can make them work."

Bobby nods and turns to Chim. "How many guests do you think you can get to show up on such short notice?"

Chim smirks. "With Maddie on board, all of them."

"Good. And the champagne?"

"Already chilling in our fridge."

"Good." Bobby gives him an approving nod. He turns to Eddie. "Can you still handle acquiring a cake?"

Eddie makes a face. "I can, but it definitely won't even come close to what we originally planned."

"That's fine," Bobby says. "Just make sure we have enough to feed a bunch of people. Chimney will pass you along the exact number of guests once he has it. Athena and I will handle the rest of the food."

They all share a determined look and scatter their own way and to get changed before Buck catches them conspiring and gets suspicious.

With this new game plan, Eddie allows himself to relax. Everything would be just fine.

*

Everything is absolutely not fine. By the time they're done with their shifts, it's already getting dark outside and Eddie wastes no time in dealing with the cakes.

As he'd been expecting, ordering anything elaborate is out of the question. He manages to talk one baker into preparing him two large cakes for tomorrow afternoon after a little negotiating and he only feels a little guilty about keeping on his uniform as he did it, because he knows it must have played a large role in swaying the owner’s decision. He makes a mental note to give the man a proper tip.

It’s going to be a little bit of a time crunch, but Eddie tries not to think about it too much. He just has to trust that it was all going to turn out okay in the end.

As he picks up Chris from Abuela and tells her about his predicament, she offers to bake some other pastries and he thanks her profusely. But even after everyone in their secret team chat shares their successful missions, Eddie still feels like something is missing.

While all of the bakeries he'd contacted about making another showstopping cake on a short notice had refused him because it was apparently an impossible task that required time that they just didn't have, Eddie refused to give up. Sure, they didn't have time but Eddie has a whole night ahead of him and he can easily sacrifice one day of errands to focus on making this cake before he had to head in for his overnight shift.

Really, how hard could it be to make a cake?

A quick search online finds him with a basic recipe and he makes a quick detour to the grocery store to pick up all of the necessary ingredients before he drives them home and feeds his kid. Chris is thankfully more than happy to entertain himself for the evening and it gives Eddie the opportunity to get started with the cake.

First step is baking the sponge because it has to cool before he can actually do anything with it and the process goes surprisingly smoothly. He narrows his eyes at the baked mixture in the cake pans as he takes them out but they looked exactly like the pictures included in the recipe. He'd even done the toothpick test and it told him that they were done.

Huh. Maybe he’s a better cook than he gave himself credit for. Or baker, whatever.

While the sponges cool, he puts Chris to bed and starts mixing up his frosting that turns out pretty damn delicious if he said so himself, though one couldn't really go wrong when butter and sugar were involved. It’s a little too sweet for his taste but he didn't really care. His main focus was the decoration. With his confidence level turned up high, he’s sure it’s going to look nothing short of spectacular.

In what was quickly becoming the trend of the day, things go downhill soon after when he tries getting the sponges out of the pans. He makes sure to cut along the sides of the pan to release it but no matter how much he turns it around and beats it, the sponge refuses to come out. It's only when he reads through the recipe that he sees that he was supposed to either grease the pan or line it with parchment paper, or both.

Eddie did neither.

It's fine though, totally fine. He'll just get a real sharp knife and somehow cut it out? While also managing to keep the sponge in one piece? Maybe? Somehow?

Eddie tries and fails, _hard_. The first sponge is completely ruined, now nothing more than a pan full of fluffy crumbs and he didn't have much hope for remaining two either. It’s nearly midnight and he didn't have time to bake more cake _and_ wait for it to cool _and_ have it set enough overnight to start with the decorating process.

Shit, he still had to make the fondant, too!

Embarrassed, Eddie blinks away the tears of frustration that are threatening to fall and tries to figure out what to do next. His first instinct is to call Bobby to help guide him through rescuing the cakes he had left. But Bobby had a lot on his plate already and the last thing Eddie wants is to add more to it. 

The only other person he can think of that could help him and who’s probably up this late is Buck himself. He can’t ask Buck for help to fix his own cake, can he? For one, Buck would definitely ask questions about Eddie's sudden and very urgent interest in baking and he couldn't tell him the truth, not when they put so much effort into making it a surprise.

But Eddie could distract him and delay his response until a later date. They didn't have plans on seeing each other until work the next day anyway. Maybe it could work.

No, he isn't going to risk it. He can figure this out on his own. But first, in an effort to distract himself, he whips up a batch of red dyed fondant just to have an excuse to beat something into submission, even if only by kneading it. It's surprisingly therapeutic, even though it doesn't give him much inspiration on how to get himself out of this mess.

When there's a gentle knock at his front door, he nearly jumps out of his skin.

Hesitantly, he walks to the door and opens it just a crack.

“Buck?” He frowns as he opens the door all the way. “What are you doing here?”

Buck fidgets where he’s standing on his front porch. “I wanted to check in on you. You seemed pretty upset about that bakery call we had today. I tried texting you about it but you weren’t answering.”

Eddie sighs, feeling warmed to his very core. Of course Buck wanted to check in on him after he’d been acting so strange earlier this day. He’s been so much more attentive to Eddie and his moods since Eddie decided to start street fighting and Eddie couldn’t express how grateful he was to have a friend like Buck watching his back.

Even if he desperately wishes they were more than just close friends.

“Sorry, it’s still on silent in my room so I didn’t hear anything.” He wants to reassure Buck that all is good and send him home before he catches Eddie in what he’s doing but that’s only going to make him more worried. Buck seemed to have a sixth sense for when Eddie was hiding things from him. “Wanna come in?”

Buck beams at him. “Sure.”

That beam quickly turns into a frown when they walk into the kitchen to see Eddies first – and definitely only – baking attempt. He raises his eyebrows at Eddie. “What is all of this? Are you… making a cake?”

“Trying to, at least,” Eddie says, trying and failing not to sound completely and utterly defeated.

“You do know that you can buy those already made in a store, right?” Buck asks slowly, as if he seriously thought that Eddie wasn’t aware of that but fair enough. This was probably the last thing Buck had been expecting to see when he walked into his house tonight. And Eddie wasn’t exactly known for his love of baking or cooking in general.

He rolls his eyes. “I do know, Buck. But Chris has this bake sale tomorrow and he only just told me about it, you know how kids are.” It’s a plain lie, and he feels like a dick for using Chris like this but what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Besides, he reminds himself through the guilt clawing at him, this was for a good cause.

Buck frowns at him even harder. “That doesn’t sound like Chris.”

Yeah, it definitely didn’t. He should have come up with a better lie before he invited Buck inside.

“Look, it doesn’t even matter at this point. I need a cake for tomorrow and clearly, I’m way out of my depth here.” He points at the mess in one of the cake pans and he sees Buck wince.

“I’m guessing you forgot to grease the pans?”

Eddie throws his hands in the air, exasperated. “Does everyone know about that but me? The lady in the store said they were _nonstick_ pans. What else was I supposed to think?”

“Didn’t it say to grease them in the recipe, though?” Buck asks and Eddie narrows his eyes at him when he notices his little amused smirk. He’s just teasing him, the asshole.

“Either be helpful or get out.”

Buck chuckles under his breath and inspects the mess. He takes a spoon and dips it into the frosting and makes a visibly shocked face at how good it tastes. Eddie huffs, impatient, and Buck says, “I have an idea. How do you feel about cake pops?”

Eddie didn’t really have any strong feelings about cake pops personally, but right now things couldn’t possibly get any worse so why not give them a shot? It had cake in the title so it would have to do.

“Show me what to do.”

He watches Buck as he takes the bowl of frosting and starts crumbling to already messed up sponge into the frosting and mixing it up as he goes. Eddie does the same until Buck declares the mixture as perfect and scoops up a spoonful of the cake mixture into his hand and rolls it between his palms into a little ball.

“Take out a pan and line it with parchment paper,” Buck orders and Eddie follows it without complaint. He places it on the counter and the two of them get to work at creating little balls until all of the mixture is done. Eddie is grateful he has Buck helping him because between the two of them, the task is done far sooner than it would be if he was doing it alone.

Once the last ball is done, Buck says, “These should cool off in the fridge for a few hours before you dip them into melted chocolate and start decorating them.”

Eddie groans. “That’s going to take absolutely forever. Why am I doing this again?”

“Because you’re a good dad.” Buck gives him a gentle smile. “I could come over early tomorrow and help you finish these off. I can pick up the sticks you’ll need too so you don’t have to get up ridiculously early before you drive Chris to school.”

The offer definitely sounds appealing, but having Buck help out to make this happen was already too much. He couldn’t allow him to help decorate the cake meant for himself too even if it would save Eddie hours of work.

“Thanks for the offer, but you don’t need to do that,” Eddie says, busying himself with making enough space in the fridge to fit two pans of cake pops so he didn’t have to look Buck directly in the eyes as he lied to him. “You should enjoy your free day, sleep in, go catch a movie or something.”

“I really don’t mind, though,” Buck insists and curse that big oblivious heart of his.

“I said no, Buck.” He offers him a tight smile to make up for the blatant dismissal of his words. “It’ll be fine.”

But Buck isn’t so easily swayed this time around. He crosses his arms across his chest and stares Eddie down. “You’re being weird again. What do I have to do for you to finally come clean with whatever is clearly bothering you?”

Eddie scowls. “You’re the only thing bothering me right now.”

The words make Buck flinch and Eddie is reminded of that day in the store where he aimed those nasty words at Buck and the last thing he wants is to make Buck feel that way ever again. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair as he tries to figure out how to make this better without ruining the surprise.

“Buck,” he says, carefully choosing his words and keeping note of Bucks’ expressions. “Do you trust me?” Buck doesn’t hesitate for a second before he nods and it makes Eddie’s heart beat at twice the speed by the sheer expression of trust. Even after everything, Buck still trusted him even when he was acting like an asshole, like right now. “Then trust me when I say that I’m not hiding anything important from you, okay? This? This is just my assignment for this party and I need to do it on my own, okay?”

Buck’s face scrunches up with confusion. “The party? I thought you said it was a bake sale?”

Eddie nearly groans aloud. Goddamnit Diaz, get your shit together.

Eddie flounders for a way to get out of this mess of his own making. “I did say that, didn’t I,” he mutters to himself.

He didn’t know why people liked to joke around that Buck was dumb or slow. Sure, he had his moments sometimes like everyone else, but he was actually incredibly bright and smart and Eddie can pinpoint the exact moment Buck connects the dots, see the realization as it comes to him written clear on his face.

“There’s a party being thrown at the station.”

And now that he's figured it out, there's nothing Eddie can do to fix this.

"Buck-" he tries anyway but Buck shakes his head, not wanting to hear it.

"Don't, Eddie," he says, and his face has morphed into that unreadable mask that he only ever used to hide his pain. "It's fine. I know things haven't been the same ever since the lawsuit so of course I wouldn't be invited to the party. I get it."

"You really don't, though," Eddie tells him. "It's really not what you're thinking. You've got this all wrong."

"Then what is it, Eddie?" Buck says in a raised voice before he lowers it down, wary of Chris sleeping soundly in his room. "Because from where I'm standing it looks like you guys are throwing a party tomorrow that you really don't want me to know about." He scoffs. "No wonder everyone was acting so weird. I didn't think it was a big deal so I ignored it, but I couldn't when you started doing it, too."

Buck takes a deep breath and looks him right in the eye. "You could have just told me, you know. I'd understand why I wasn't invited to participate if you'd just told me. Going behind my back just makes it all worse, like I'm not even worth talking to anymore."

There's so many things wrong with Buck's line of thinking that Eddie honestly doesn't even know where to start. He’s right, things weren't quite the same since the lawsuit, but it wasn't for the reasons that Buck was thinking. Sure, everyone was pissed off and annoyed at the start, Eddie most of all – but that was until Maddie snapped at Chim for being an idiot they all finally took Buck's feelings under consideration.

Buck had a legitimate case – a case that he'd actually won, they later found out through the grapevine – and in the end all he ever wanted was to come back to them.

That's when the guilt set in. If they were more understanding, more involved into his life, if they were there for him when he needed them the most like he always was for them, maybe it all could have been prevented. Even when they failed him, Buck still did what he thought he had to do to in order to come back to them, despite everything.

And none of them knew how to act now that he was back. All Buck seemed to want was for things to go back to how they were before. Whenever someone tried having a conversation about it, he'd shut it down and laugh it off and say they were good. But were they really?

It's why this party was so important. If Buck didn't want to talk about it – because, looking at it now, the poor guy was probably terrified of what they had to say to him – they were going to show him exactly how much they appreciated him.

He must have been silent for a moment too long because Buck sighs and starts to walk out of his kitchen, and Eddie knows that he'll never forgive himself if he lets Buck walk out of his house thinking that he was right and that no one cared. He couldn't bear being the reason for why Buck felt like he wasn't enough for another second longer.

"The party is for you," he says quietly. Buck freezes in his step right there in the middle of his kitchen. "It was supposed to be a surprise for your birthday but apparently you're too smart for your own good. Even if your final conclusion was way off base."

Slowly, Buck turns around to face him, confusion marring his face. "But my birthday isn't until next week."

Eddie nods, just barely repressing another eye roll. "That's where the _surprise_ part comes in."

Though now, after hearing Buck's assumption, Eddie isn't so sure that Buck would think that any party thrown at his actual birthday would actually be for _him_. For such a smart guy, he sure had his moments.

"Oh," Buck says, considering it. His eyes come alight with another realization. "The fire at the bakery. That's where you ordered the cake from. That's why you were all so weird when we got back from the call."

"I knew it was your favorite," Eddie says softly. "But apparently lucky really wasn't on our side today."

"God, Eddie, I'm so sorry." Buck runs a hand through his hair. "Here I am, ruining everything again."

"No," Eddie says sharply. "Don't even go there. None of this is your fault. I'm the one who couldn't keep it together for one day and who ruined the surprise." He groans. "They're never going to let me live that down."

"Well." Buck comes to stand beside him where he's still leaning on his counter and knocks their shoulders together. "They don't have to know that I know. I could always pretend to be surprised."

Eddie shakes his head but a smile is threatening to burst through anyway. "Have you met our teammates? You'll never be able to pull it off."

Buck turns to him with a mischievous smile that Eddie desperately wants to cover with his own. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

*

When Buck went to visit Eddie last night, the last thing he expected to see was his best friend having a meltdown over a failed cake baking attempt. He was prepared to have to drag his feelings out of him because Eddie liked to hoard the hurt inside until it exploded and that wasn't good for him or the poor people around him who managed to piss him off.

Truth be told, Buck still feels guilty for not being there for Eddie when he was struggling which led to him joining that stupid fight club in the first place. If he was there, he definitely wouldn't have allowed that to happen. He still finds himself giving Lena a stink eye every now and then when he sees her in the station, though he keeps his feelings to himself. At least she was trying to help Eddie, however misguided her attempt was. Buck was too busy thinking only about himself.

The night had taken quite an unexpected turn though, when Eddie finally revealed why he was acting so strange the entire day. For a moment there, Buck could barely breathe. The heartbreak caused by the realization that they were throwing a party in the station and that he had been intentionally left out gutted him.

It would make more sense than his team throwing him a birthday party after everything that happened with the lawsuit. He's been avoiding them, because he was a coward who'd rather live in the in between friendship with them at work than hear them say that they wanted nothing more to do with him. Plenty of other guys from different stations definitely weren't shy with telling him exactly how they felt about this whole lawsuit thing and while completely deserved, it was hard enough to deal with. But with his own team? No. Buck couldn't do it.

Which is why he's not expecting much when he walks into the station that afternoon before his shift. Bobby had them all come in an hour early to do some inventory, which Buck had grumbled about with everyone else, and now knew was just an excuse to throw a surprise party that wouldn't be interrupted by a sudden call.

He's expecting his team to be there, because they had to be and maybe Maddie who was suspiciously silent about bugging him about his birthday plans. It's why he’s completely taken aback when he walks into the station and is greeted with a booming "Happy birthday!" from a crowd of his closest friends and family.

The banner hanging up at the loft is clearly an older one that they'd repurposed to fit his name, but that only added to the mismatched charm of the station. Shiny decorations were placed on every available surface of the loft, from paper streamers to balloons and a bunch of kids drawings that he could easily attach to each budding artist.

He’s definitely taking all of them home with him at the end of his shift.

When he found Eddie making a cake, he'd thought that that would be that, but no, there's two large cakes placed in the center of the table, among the array of other foods which absolutely crowded the table. And of course, a bunch of Eddie's finished cake pops that were were all standing at attention in a foam block painted red and made to look like a firetruck with the number 118 written over the length of it.

But what takes him the most by surprise is the people present. His team is there, of course, but so are their partners and families. Karen and the kids, Athena and Michael and their kids and even Eddie's aunt and Abuela and, of course, Chris and Carla.

He's practiced his surprised look in the mirror before he got here, but it turns out it wasn't necessary at all.

He's completely and utterly surprised.

"I think we broke him," Chim says to Maddie and laughter follows. Before Buck can even process what's happening, he's being led up to the loft by Eddie who is suddenly his side. What follows is a lot of hugs and good wishes and an alarming amount of cheek pinches and it's- it's a lot. Never in a million years would he have expected this and it's all he can do to keep himself from falling apart right there in front of everyone.

He manages to keep it together for long enough to greet everyone and he's so, _so_ very happy but he just needs a moment for himself.

"Everyone dig in, grab a slice of cake," Eddie says to everyone and takes Buck by the arm. "I need to borrow the man of the hour for a little bit."

His announcement is meet by playful boos from the kids and knowing looks from the adults that he doesn't have the brain capacity to process. He only realizes where Eddie is leading him when they step out onto the roof and the crisp evening air hits him right in the face and forces some air back into his lungs.

"You okay?" Eddie asks and Buck gives a sharp nod, bracing himself on the concrete ledge of the roof.

"Thanks," he says, voice rough with emotion. "For getting me out of there. I just needed a minute."

"Take all the time you need."

Eddie is a solid presence besides him, no doubt waiting for him to compose himself enough so they could talk about it. Well, Buck would talk about it. No amount of therapy will turn Eddie into a guy who freely shared his emotions but he was always a great listener whenever Buck needed him to be.

And it felt like he needed him all the time. He sought him out when he was sad and upset and tired, and even more so when he was happy or just plain bored and in need of company.

He just wanted him so much, in any way that he could get him and wanting more than friendship seemed plain impossible.

Or it did, until last night.

He opens his eyes and turns to look at Eddie who mirrors his position.

"You made me a cake," he says, a fact.

He watches as a blush blooms on Eddie's cheeks and he rolls his eyes to cover up his embarrassment.

"Correction – I tried to make you a cake. It was a giant failure if you can remember."

“The cake pops turned out perfectly fine,” Buck defends. Eddie had gone as far as dying the dipping chocolate red and making clumsy little firemen helmets made out from fondant to put on top. It wasn’t going to be winning any competitions, that much was for sure but it came right from the heart and that’s all that mattered. “Aw, Eddie. I can’t believe you tried making me a cake.”

And here he is, getting emotional all over again over a few dozen cake pops. But Eddie absolutely despised baking. And the fact that he tried to make him a cake anyway just so Buck could have something special? It’s more than enough to unravel what little composure he had left.

Eddie reaches out and brushes the few tears that had managed to escape without his knowledge and his breath hitches in his throat for having Eddie so close. This is usually the part where one of them jokes to break the mounting tension, part where they step away and stuff their feelings into a neat little box and set it out of the way of their friendship. But Eddie is not stepping back this time.

“It’s you,” Eddie says quietly, as if he’s sharing a secret. “I had to at least try.”

If Eddie is brave enough to make that admission, then Buck certainly isn’t going to deny himself any longer either.

They meet in the middle, lips pressing in a soft, hesitant kiss. For one long moment, the two of them are frozen on the spot and then Eddie is tilting his head up and pulling Buck closer and Buck melts into it, reassured that Eddie wasn’t doing this just because Buck wanted to. They both wanted – _needed_ \- this.

Eddie tastes like vanilla frosting and chocolate and like everything Buck's ever wanted out of life. But no matter how much he wants to stay in this moment forever, he knew that they are technically still at work and that it’s only a matter of time before someone came up looking for them.

With a heavy heart, he breaks the kiss but doesn’t go far, leaning his forehead against Eddie’s to keep him close.

“Do you have any plans for the next weekend?” Eddie murmurs right into his ear and Buck shivers. “I’d love to take you out for a birthday dinner.”

Buck frowns and pulls away. “I think one birthday celebration is more than enough.” 

Eddie sighs, but it’s clearly exaggerated judging by the smile that keeps breaking through his nonchalant facade. “If it will make you feel better, we could just call it a date instead of a birthday dinner?”

Whoever said that Eddie wasn’t sly clearly didn’t know him well enough because wow did he have a way with words when he wanted to. 

“In that case, I’d love to go,” Buck says, unable to contain his grin. Honestly, he didn't even try. 

“Any special requests?” Eddie asks as they finally separate and start making their way back down to the party.

Buck pretends to think about it. "I wouldn't say no to another cake."

Eddie knocks his shoulder into his but instead of pulling away, he takes his hand in his and holds on tight.

"Don't push it, Buckley."

Their handholding doesn’t go unnoticed by anyone but they’re kind enough not to bring it up now, though Buck has no doubts that both he and Eddie will be relentlessly teased about it for a long time to come. Not that he cares. Even usually stoic Eddie is having a hard time keeping the smile away from his face.

Maddie whips out both a bottle of champagne and one of fizzy apple juice and they all make a toast.

“To Buck,” Bobby says, raising his glass. “For many more birthdays to come.”

“To Buck!” everyone cheers and the bubbly champagne only ads to the fireworks sparking in Buck’s stomach.

Here, surrounded by his friends and family and with Eddie’s warm hand enveloped in his, he’s never been happier.

His only wish is that the next one is just as happy.

(And it is.)


End file.
